If You're Listening
by BbyStarlette
Summary: Hotch thinks there's something odd about Emily's new boyfriend and he won't stop until he figures out what that 'something' is. Eventually H/P. Story better than summary… I promise!  Last chapter is up!
1. Chapter 1

_**HEY! So I've been thinking about this story for a while now and finally found the time to start writing it… It's the first time I write a Hotch/Prentiss fic... Hope you like=]

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Emily stepped out of her car and looked both ways before quickly crossing the street. She was already a couple minutes late for her date with Ray. They had agreed to meet at a small coffee shop just outside of Quantico.

Emily and Ray had been going out for a little over two months, 68 days to be exact. It was a big move on Emily's side to agree to date Ray, but after him practically begging her to be his girlfriend, she finally gave in. He was a very kind man, with a big heart, and the most amazing smile. Emily met him at a bar in downtown D.C., he walked up to her in the middle of the bar and the first thing he said was "Sorry if I'm bothering you, but I just wanted to say that you're beautiful." Emily thought that was extremely cheesy but he offered her drinks and she couldn't say no after seeing his smile. They exchanged numbers that night and began getting to know each other. They went out on few occasions over a month's time before he finally asked her to be his girlfriend. The only thing that bothered both Emily and Ray about their relationship was the little time they got to spend together. She was an FBI agent and he was a Doctor, both extremely time consuming jobs. They still found ways to sneak off at times to see each other during the day and every second they shared was precious.

Emily hurried up the side walk and opened the door of the coffee shop. Sitting nearest table to the entrance was Ray waiting for her with two cups of coffee ready on the table.

"Hey-" Emily said placing her hand on the back of Ray's neck and bending over for a kiss.

"I was sure I was getting stood up again." Ray said with a smirk.

Emily took off her coat and set it on the back of her chair. She sat across from Ray and took a quick sip of her coffee.

"So how is your day going so far?" Ray asked before drinking some of his own coffee as well.

"Not bad… Derek and Spencer keep me entertained. And Penelope and JJ always find a way to distract me from paper work." Emily said smiling.

"That's good. Your team sounds fun."

"They are." Emily said remembering the prank Morgan and Garcia had pulled on her earlier. They rearranged all the keys on the computer keyboard on her desk, and made them spell 'EMGOTPUNKD' while she was taking a bathroom break. She tried to keep a straight face but she couldn't help but chuckle at the memory.

"I'd like to meet your team. You always speak so well about them." Ray said putting down his coffee cup.

"Yeah, that's never going to happen." Emily smiled and rolled her eyes.

Ray stared straight at her seriously.

"Oh… You're serious?" Emily asked.

"Of course."

"Well, it might be awkward considering I haven't really told any of them about you yet." Emily said trying to not to hurt Ray's feelings.

"Why not?" Ray questioned raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know… And please don't take this the wrong way. It's just that they are all profilers. They can tell when something is up, regardless if I mention it or not, and well, it's just nice being able to keep some things to myself. But I would never have a problem with you meeting them, if that's what you're thinking."

"Okay then. Let's go." Ray stood up and grabbed his jacket.

"What? Go where?"Emily said standing up as well.

"To meet your team. Come on." Ray helped Emily get into her coat and rushed her out of the coffee shop.

"Ray, stop! I think it would be better if I tell everyone about you first and then introduce you to them some other day. Please."

"Okay, Emily. I see how it is." Ray looked her in the eyes making her feel like a jerk, "You're ashamed of me, aren't you?"

"Come on Ray. Don't do that." Emily said as Ray turned and started walking away.

"Ray?" Emily said as she began to walk after him. "Fine." Emily yelled finally giving in.

Ray stopped to face Emily. His angry face lightened up and he smiled at Emily. "Emily I introduced you to my family within the first week of us dating, and you can't introduce me to your co-workers after 2 months? I just feel like you don't want them to know you're with me."

"It's not like that at all, I promise. If you really want to meet them then we can go now since my break is almost over, okay?"

"Okay, let's go." Ray said grinning as he followed Emily back to her car.

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_**I'll update ASAP! Thanks for reading! And please let me know what you truly think- I love reading your comments, suggestions and even the critiques=]**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**I'm sorry it took so long for me to update! I had midterms all this week and last, so I was hitting the books hard. But here you go, hope you don't totally hate me for making you wait so long!

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Reid looked up from his desk to find Emily walking out of the elevator and getting close to the BAU doors. She was holding some guys hand and smiling at him adoringly. Reid was shocked. Reid was used to seeing Derek with a different girl every other weekend, but, this was the first time in, ever, that he had seen Prentiss with a man.

Reid rolled his chair over to Derek's desk and tapped him on the shoulder to let him know what he had just seen.

"What do you want!" Derek said looking up from his paper work.

Reid pointed towards the door. Derek looked as Ray held the door open for Emily.

"Oh…" Derek said, as a devilish smile started to form on his face.

Hotch was coming out of his office when he caught a glimpse of Ray and Emily at the corner of his eye. _'No way'_ he thought as he turned fully around to see that in fact, it was true. Emily was holding a guys hand near the bull pen.

"I'll go get Pen." Derek half whispered, half yelled to Spencer as he shot up from his seat and ran in the direction of Garcia's tech room.

"I'll get Jayge." Spencer said almost immediately and headed towards JJ's office.

This left Emily, Ray and Hotch alone. Hotch crossed his arms in front of his chest and waited for Prentiss to speak.

"Um, Hotch. I'd like to introduce you to Ray." Prentiss said in a low shaky voice.

"Nice to meet you." Hotch as he extended his arm and shook his hand. As he did he eyed Ray up and down trying to notice his every move.

Ray stared at Emily waiting for her to add on to that previous introduction.

"Oh, um. He's my, um, friend, uh, boyfriend." Emily said as she stuttered and struggled to find words.

"Boyfriend, huh?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah, we've been going out for about two months." Prentiss said.

Emily's last words were followed by a long, out of depth, silence.

'_Awkwaaaaaard…'_ Hotch thought as he waited for something to break the pause, but nothing came to mind. They all just stood there like fools.

About 2 minutes later they were all startled by something that sounded somewhat like a mini stampede.

Emily looked behind her to find Reid, Morgan, Garcia, and JJ running towards her at an amazingly high speed.

They all came to a sudden stop right in front of Emily and Ray.

"Told you so! You owe me five bucks" Reid yelled at JJ.

"What? This confirms nothing!" JJ argued back. She then turned to Ray to ask if what Reid had said was true. "Are you Emily's boyfriend?" JJ said getting in his face.

"Um, I'm afraid to answer that…" ray said as he took a step back closer to Emily.

"Yes, he is." Prentiss answered for him.

"Dammit! Here!" JJ said turning back to Reid and handing him a crisp five dollar bill.

"In that case…" Penelope said with a sneaky smile. She shoved Emily away and got in between her and Ray. "You will receive one warning and one warning only. If you do anything, the tiniest thing to hurt Emily, I will hunt you down and turn your life into a living hell. You will be the most miserable man alive! You hear me!" Penelope threatened.

"Loud and Clear." Ray said. He was obviously very scared of Penelope.

"Okay, baby girl, calm down." Morgan said as he grabbed Penelope and pulled her away from Ray.

"I'm the nicest girl you will ever meet. But I hate when people mess with my friends. It brings out my violent side." Penelope told Ray smiling.

"I see." Ray said as he took Emily's hand in his again.

"So, um. What's your name?" Spencer said breaking the short silence.

"This is Ray." Emily finally introduced him to everyone else.

"Ray, this is: Spencer Reid, Penelope Garcia, Jennifer Jareau and Derek Morgan." Emily said Pointing to each of them.

"Nice to meet you all." Ray said as he shook each of their hands individually. "Well, I'm afraid I have to go. Again, it was a pleasure." Ray said before waving goodbye to everyone and kissing Emily before finally leaving.

"Well he seemed nice." JJ said once Ray was gone.

"Sure." Hotch scoffed.

"Is something wrong Hotch?" Emily asked Hotch. She tilted her head to the side and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She wouldn't take it if anyone had something bad to say about Ray. They could all have their separate opinions if they wanted, but she knew who Ray was and if anyone had a problem with him they should just keep that to themselves.

"I don't know, Prentiss. There is something 'off' about him…"

"Off?" Emily lifted an eyebrow at Hotch.

"I just don't think he is any good for you Emily…"

"First off, you know nothing about him. Second, it's none of your business!" Emily said slightly raising her voice.

"Well sorry if I see something wrong with him that you don't. Come on Emily, you're a great profiler! It doesn't take much skill to notice that guy is a creep! Right Morgan?" Hotch said turning to Morgan for back up.

"I don't know. He seemed pretty normal to me…" Derek shrugged.

Hotch rolled his eyes and started back to his office.

"Nobody asked you to profile my boyfriend, Hotch. So just back off! I never want to hear you talking shit about Ray ever again!" Emily said yelling across the bullpen.

At that moment Rossi walked in to the BAU and saw as everyone stared at Emily whose face was now red with anger. He looked around the room for an answer but no one dared to speak seeing how pissed Emily was.

"What did I miss?" Rossi finally spoke up.

"Trust me. It's best you don't know." JJ said as the group broke up and went back to work, leaving Rossi alone in the middle of the bullpen wondering what he had failed to notice.

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_**Hope you liked! Don't forget to REVIEW!=]**_


	3. Chapter 3

**_Sorry for the wait... Hope you like it=]_**

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Emily got up and put her coat on as soon as she saw the clock strike 6. She had a date with Ray at 7pm and she had no intention of missing it or being late. Just as she picked her purse and phone off her desk she heard someone call out her name.

"Emily." Hotch said as he closed his office door behind him. "Where are you going?"

"Is it any of your business?" Emily snapped back. She was still mad at him.

"Yes, actually it is. I am your boss and you need to finish up that paper work on that last case. So you can't go anywhere." Hotch said as the corners of his lips began to rise upwards.

"Are you serious?" Emily asked, she was irritated. Once again her plans with Ray would have to be postponed.

"Yes…"

"What are you smiling at?" Emily asked as she began to notice the grin on Hotch's face.

"You were going out with Ray tonight weren't you?"

Emily rolled her eyes and ignored the previous question. She put her purse back on her desk and began removing her jacket. She sat down and began rushing through her paperwork hoping she could get off in time to make it to her date.

Hotch left, and started back towards his office. Something about ruining Emily's night out with Ray pleased him very much. There was something definitely wrong with that fellow, and Hotch was going to make sure Emily's contact with him was minimal until he found out what it was that made him seem so strange.

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JJ walked over to Emily's desk, she pulled out a handful of Hershey's kisses from her pocket and extended her hand out to Emily,"Want one?"

Emily turned to see her friend, "I guess…" She sighed.

"Everything okay there?" JJ asked taking a seat on top of Emily's desk.

"No," Prentiss said putting her pen down, "I have a date with Ray tonight but Hotch won't let me leave until this file is completed and on his desk."

"Really? What's gotten into him lately? He seems to be even more overprotective than usual, especially with you." JJ admitted.

"Well whatever it is, it needs to stop. I've had enough."

"Maybe he's just jealous of Ray." JJ said.

"Why would he be jealous of Ray?"

"Well, I don't know. Me and Garcia are kind of working on a theory. Maybe he likes you?"

"What? NO!" Emily said loud enough to catch the attention of Morgan and Reid who weren't far.

"No, what?" Morgan asked, as usual sticking his nose in others peoples business.

"MYOB." Emily said turning her attention back to JJ. "Hotch is extremely professional. Yes, he gets over-protective of us… but, he's just doing his job as our leader. That's it."

"Uhuh… Whatever." JJ said as both she and Emily started to laugh. "Go ahead. I'll finish this for you." JJ said taking the paper work from Emily's hands.

"No, its fine, really." Emily said attempting to get her paper work back. "I don't want you to get in trouble because of me…"

"Don't worry. GO!" JJ said as she started to walk away.

"Fine, thanks. I owe you!" Emily said cheerfully as she began to collect her belonging and got ready to leave.

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It was late and Hotch and Morgan were the last at the BAU. Everyone else was already long gone. Hotch started to pack his belongings in his suitcase when he heard steps coming towards his office. He assumed it was Morgan that had come to announce he was leaving as well. He was surprised when he turned and found Emily in the door way.

"Emily? I thought you had left for that date with that creep boyfriend of yours." Hotch said smiling. Hotch stopped smiling when Emily walked in all the way and he was able to see her face. She seemed very worried and tears rimmed her eyes. "You okay?"

"Hotch… I think Ray might be in trouble. Please, help." Emily said as she held her head slightly up trying to prevent herself from crying in front of Hotch.

"What kind of trouble? I knew that guy was no good." Hotch said as he shook his head.

"Hotch!" Emily yelled in frustration.

Morgan walked into Hotch's office. He seemed stunned to see Emily there.

"I showed up to the restaurant where we agreed to meet. I waited for a while and began calling him when he didn't show."

"Aw… Prentiss got stood up." Morgan said teasing behind her.

Emily turned around and Morgan knew immediately this wasn't a joking matter.

"I called a bunch of time and freaked out when he didn't pick up. So, I went over to his apartment to check on him and the door was open… The place was ransacked. I think someone took him." Emily said, as she let one tear roll down from her eyes.

Morgan stepped forward and put an arm around Emily's shoulders hoping he could comfort her. But Hotch on the other hand didn't seem to be alarmed or care at all.

"So… What is it that you want me to do?" Hotch said with a puzzled look.

"Help me find him!" Emily said looking somewhat pissed.

"Look Emily, calm down." Morgan said. "He probably left somewhere in a hurry or something. I bet he'll be back and will it explain it to you soon. Go home and if you still have no news on him by tomorrow afternoon we'll call the local authorities, file a missing persons report and let them take care of it."

"What, no! I'm an FBI agent. I can do so much more to find Ray than the local authorities. Please, I just need your help." Emily pleaded.

"Go home Emily. If by tomorrow you haven't heard from him, we will all step in to help you. Right Hotch?" Morgan asked catching Hotch off guard.

"What? No, we can do that. You know very well we can't investigate any case without being invited in by local authorities." Hotch said trying to avoid having to do with Ray.

"We can offer our help to the local police department, they won't say no." Emily said.

"Look, we'll deal with this tomorrow, okay? I'll see what I can do. No promises however." Hotch finally said.

"Thanks." Emily said jumping out to hug Hotch.

Hotch hesitated at first but finally gave in and hugged her back. This was the first time ever that they had hugged, but there was just something that seemed so right about the feeling of having her in his arms. There was just something so special about the way she placed her head on his chest allowing him to breath in the sweet scent of her hair. Hotch almost forgot Morgan was in the room and began stroking her hair. Emily finally pulled away and went to Morgan to give him a quick hug as well before leaving.

Emily was gone and Morgan couldn't wait to tease his boss.

"What was that?" Morgan said smiling and taking a seat on Hotch's desk.

"What?" Hotch said in a cool tome as he continued to gather his belongings.

"You two just totally had a moment!" Morgan said.

"A moment?" Hotch asked lifting an eyebrow.

"Yeah. You think I didn't see you stroking her hair…"

"I was just trying to comfort her, that's all." Hotch said defending himself.

"Sure… I think she totally digs you." Morgan said jumping off of Hotch's desk and making his way out the door.

"You're crazy. She has a boyfriend, Morgan." Hotch said a little too late. Morgan was already out the door.

'_She has a boyfriend, she has a boyfriend.' _Hotch kept repeating the same thing over and over in his head.

'_Morgan is just screwing with me, there's no way she likes me.' _

'_Why do I even care? It's not like I like her like that anyway. Or do I?'_

Oddly enough he couldn't answer that question. Did he really like Emily Prentiss as more than just a co-worker or friend?

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_**Don't forget to review please!=D**_

_**I reeeeaaaalllllyyy want to know what you think!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hope I didn't leave you guys waiting to long!=] **_

_**I'm having so much fun writing this story and I'm glad you guys are enjoying it! Please keep reviewing, I love reading what you guys have to say!**_

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Emily woke up as a bit of sunlight hit her eyes; she fought hard to keep her eyes closed and get a few more minutes of sleep. She had been tossing and turning all night and had only gotten about two hours worth of sleep. Not knowing anything about Ray had kept her up. She couldn't stop thinking about him, the idea that he could actually be missing or in trouble was killing her.

Finally Emily opened her eyes and sat up on her bed. She looked around her lonely bedroom, on a usual Sunday morning she would've woken up in Ray's bed, in Ray's house. She reached for her phone on her night stand and dialed Ray's number again hoping he would pick up and give her a funny explanation about how his phone died so he couldn't call her to tell her he was going to miss the date or pick up any of the 30 calls she had made. Unfortunately that was not the case. Once again, Ray didn't pick up, so she left him another voicemail.

Emily dragged herself out of bed; she had to be at the BAU in about an hour. She went over to her closet and pullet out some black slacks and a white dress shirt. She pulled the clothes on as well as her shoes before going over to her mirror and giving her hair a quick brush. She picked up her car keys and headed outside. After turning on her car, Emily decided to make a quick run to Ray's apartment before going to work. Once again, the apartment was empty like the night before. Finally, she went over to the BAU, hoping Hotch would stop being such a jerk and realize Ray was really missing and help her find him.

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At the BAU, everything ran as it normally would. Everyone was busy doing their own thing and minding their own business. That was with the exception of Hotch. He kept going in out of his office every five minutes to see if Emily had shown up already. He regretted being so mean about the Ray situation. He might have not liked the guy but he knew how upset Emily was, and Hotch was genuinely worried about her. During his fourth trip outside he caught a glimpse of Emily at her desk. He made his way over to her cautiously.

"Prentiss?" Hotch said as he came up behind her.

Emily turned around. She looked a little surprised to find Hotch behind her. "Hi, I just got here."

"I know. Um, was there any word or news from or about Ray?"

"No, I called him twice this morning and went to his apartment again. Nothing, Hotch." Emily said.

Hotch could see the concern in Emily's eyes. She seemed extremely bothered. Usually she was cheery and giggly; she would come in and greet every one with a dazzling smile. Hotch knew he had to do something, quick. Although he wouldn't do it to help Ray in any way, he would do it just to get Emily to smile again.

"Well… If you want, I could ask Garcia to try and track his credit card use and cell phone to check where he is. If there's any one in this world that can give you the exact location of a person at any given time, it's her." Hotch said, trying to sound as positive as he could hoping Emily would cheer up.

"Really, you would do that?" Emily said in complete disbelief. She already considered asking Garcia to do that anyways, but she knew if she didn't get Hotch's permission first it might get both her and Garcia in trouble with him.

"Of course. Here, write down Ray's full name and phone number and I'll have Garcia find out what ever she can." Hotch said handing her his pen.

"Oh, I can go tell her in her office…" Emily said as she began to stand up.

"It's okay, I got it. Stay here and finish your work. I'll give this to Penelope." Hotch said as he put his hands on Emily's shoulder and gently sat her back down.

Emily stared down at Hotch's hand before looking up at him. She was thankful that Hotch stopped being an ass and was finally doing something to help her find her boyfriend, but he was being a little too nice and it was starting to weird her out.

"Relax, Emily. Everything will be fine, I promise. I'm sure he probably had to take off somewhere at last minute and forgot to tell you." Hotch said trying to comfort the brunette sitting in front of him.

"No, Ray would never do that." Emily said quickly.

"Well, you never know maybe he was in a really big rush and-"

"No, Hotch. I know Ray, he would _NEVER_ do that." Emily assured her boss.

"Oh, okay." Hotch said surprised at the way Emily had just completely cut him off. "I'll get this to Garcia and get back to you and as soon as she has something, I'll let you know." Hotch said as he began to walk away.

Emily turned back around and resumed her work. She heard Hotch calling out her name again.

"Prentiss," Hotch said in a firm yet caring voice.

"Yeah?" Prentiss asked.

For a brief moment Hotch considered saying something like _'I love you'_ or _'Forget Ray, you've got me'_ but he stopped himself.

"Try not to worry so much, okay?" Hotch said quietly trying not to draw much attention from the others.

Emily nodded and smiled before turning around to her desk.

Hotch's heart felt like it was melting when he saw that beautiful smile show once again. He still wasn't completely sure that he had feelings for her, but something was definitely changing in the way he thought of her. Typically, Hotch saw Emily as an ordinary FBI Agent whom happened to be in his team. She could handle as much stress and kick ass like any other man on his team could. She had proved she was tough more than once. But seeing this vulnerable side of Emily made him realize she wasn't one of the boys, she was a woman, a very beautiful woman.

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Penelope was very busy updating her Facebook status when she was surprised by hard knock on her office door. She jumped up and quickly began changing the content of her screens which included her twitter page, YouTube, and a very busy and intense session of Diner Dash.

"Just a minute!" Garcia yelled as she cleared her computer screens. "Okay, come in!"

"Garcia, were you on Facebook again?" Hotch said as he closed the door behind him.

"Um. No. How may I be of your lovely assistance boss man?" Garcia said quickly changing the embarrassing subject.

"I need you to look up Emily's boyfriend. She thinks he might be missing and in trouble." Hotch said handing Penelope the small piece of paper containing Ray's information.

"OMG! She must be freaked out! Poor thing, I have to go to her!" Penelope said as she rushed out of her seat with intention of comforting Emily.

"Garcia, Garcia. She's fine. Just look him up and see if you find anything suspicious." Hotch said making her sit back down.

"Okay. Let's see. Raymond Charles Harris, DOB: January 28th, 1968, from Tallahassee, Florida," Garcia said out loud as she typed the information into her database.

"Find anything?" Hotch asked as he hovered over her shoulder and looked at the screen.

"Um, no…" Penelope said staring at Hotch with a worried expression on her face.

"What do you mean, no?"

"Well, according to my super information highway…" Garcia said as she turned back to her screen to double check what she had discovered. "Ray doesn't exist…"

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**_Next chapter will be writen as soon as I finish my American Paradox essay for my English class, this could take a while, UGH=P_**

**_I'll try my best to do it fast! In the mean time keep reviewing! All comments, suggestions, and critiques are helpful and incredibly appreciated!=D_**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Thank you for all the awesome reviews! ILY! Sorry if I kept you waiting too long... This will be my last post before I go on spring break vacation, L.A. here I come! LOL... I'll post again when I come back home in a week. This is quite short, Enjoy!**_

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"Tell her." Hotch said pushing Penelope out of her office.

"You tell her!" Penelope said as she gripped the edges of the door way trying to keep herself within the safety of her lair.

"You found out first, so you have to tell her!" Hotch protested as he continued pushing her.

"'Hey Emily. You know that really cute guy you're dating, the one that told you his name was Ray, oh yeah, he doesn't exist!' Sorry Boss man, but this is a conversation I have no plans of initiating!" Penelope said as she successfully pushed Hotch out of the way with her butt and re-entered her tech room.

"First of all, Ray wasn't _'cute'_" Hotch said making a grossed out face,"second, you are one of her best friends… so you should be the one to break it to her." Hotch argued back like a 5 year old kid.

"He was totally cute! Stop being a hater! And I say you tell her since, number one, you are her boss, number two, you were the one who told me to check him out, and number three, because you secretly have a crush on her!" Penelope said counting off the reasons with her fingers before angrily putting both hands on her hips.

"I don't have a crush on her!" Hotch shouted back at Garcia.

Just then Emily poked her head in to Garcia's office.

"Who don't you have a crush on?" Emily asked as she tried not to laugh as she stared directly at Hotch.

"No one… Emily _we_ have to tell you something." Hotch said motioning Emily to come all the way in.

"Oh no _we_ don't…" Penelope said as she pushed past both Hotch and Prentiss, leaving them alone in her office.

"_Great…_" Hotch mumbled with clenched teeth.

"What's going on? Is this about Ray? Did you find him?" Emily said with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"No… Actually, Penelope tried finding him, but apparently he doesn't exist…"Hotch said quickly and merciless and waited for Emily's reaction.

"What? What do you mean 'He doesn't exist'?" Prentiss yelled out as she dropped the hope in her eyes and adopted a look of rage and confusion.

"Well, it's likely he didn't give you his real name or he assumed a different identity, probably because he is up to no good, I knew there was something 'off' about him…" Hotch ranted without taking into consideration that Emily was still standing in front of him.

"What? No! Ray was an honest guy; he would never lie to me or tell me he was somebody he wasn't!" Emily protested.

"Emily, calm down. I'm sure we will get to the bottom of this in no time." Hotch assured her.

"You're right. This is probably just a very big misunderstanding…" Emily said, trying to actually believe that.

"Emily. If it's not a misunderstanding, you have to prepare yourself for the truth. Who knows who he really is…?" Hotch said taking a step closer to Emily hoping this would be the perfect opportunity for another hug...

"This _is_ a misunderstanding. And _I know_ who Ray is…" Emily said as she turned away and stomped out of the room.

"Wait!" Hotch said catching her arm in the hallway.

"What do you want?" Emily spat out coldly as her eyes met Hotch's.

"Nothing, never mind." Hotch said as he loosened his grip around Emily's arm and let her go.

Emily eyed him up and down before walking away. She hated the way Hotch thought of Ray. It seemed unfair to Emily how Hotch used this opportunity to bad-mouth Ray.

Emily rushed into the bullpen and made it very noticeable to everybody that she was very upset.

Morgan was the first to notice. He wanted to ask what was going on, but didn't think it would be wise. Morgan knew how weird and flustered Emily got whenever he tried getting in her business. Morgan decided it was a smart choice to just let this one go and maybe ask her when she was calmer. Finally, Reid noticed as well and manned up to ask Emily what was bothering her.

"Prentiss, are you okay?" Reid said walking up to her shyly.

"No, I'm not. I'm not okay. Not at all! You want to know why?" Prentiss said as she snapped her head back.

"Um, sure?" Reid responded hesitantly, taking a step back.

"Because your douche-bag of a boss Hotch told me he would help me find Ray and all he did is tell me that supposedly Ray doesn't exist! Can you believe that! He's just being an ass, like always. I know Ray and I know he loves me and he would never lie to me or disappear on me for no reason! I'm a profiler, if something was really 'off' or 'wrong' with Ray, I would have noticed long before I even introduced him to Hotch!" Prentiss said as she began to run out of breath.

Reid's eyes were opened wide and his head was drawn back. He hadn't expected Prentiss to go on a ranting rampage like that.

"You just had to ask…" Morgan said under his breath.

"I heard that! You're as big of a jerk as Hotch is!" Prentiss said as she picked up her bag and coat off her desk.

"Sorry, Emily. Where are you going?" Morgan said as he quickly got up to investigate.

"No one here is willing to help. So I'm going to go find Ray myself!"

"Em, I don't think is a good idea… If Ray really isn't who he says you could be putting yourself in danger." Morgan said as he went back to his desk to grab his leather jacket.

"Don't worry. Ray wasn't that kind of guy." Emily said again. No one could convince her otherwise.

"Well just to be safe Reid and I will go with you." Morgan said as he put on his jacket.

"What? Me? Why me?" Reid questioned. He didn't like the idea of going behind Hotch's back to help Emily and he wasn't planning to get in trouble for it either.

"Come on kid." Morgan said as he grabbed a hold of Spencer's arm and dragged him towards the door way.

"Thank you guys," A tiny smile was drawn on to Emily's face. Even though Hotch was a total loser and hater, she could still count on her REAL friends to help her.

"Where you gooooing?" Garcia sang as she caught up to the group by the elevator.

"We're going to look for Ray." Reid said quietly as he looked around paranoid to make sure no one had heard.

"Oh! I'm in!" Garcia said excitedly.

Just as they were going to get on the elevator JJ caught up to them as well.

"Hey! What's up?" The small blonde asked.

"Where going to find Ray." Reid said again whispering cautiously.

"Cool! Can I go?" JJ asked with mischief in her voice.

"Sorry, Jayge. But we actually need you to stay here and cover for us." Morgan said.

"For all of you? I could possibly cover for one or two of you, but four? That's going to be hard…" JJ told the group.

"Well if anybody asks tell them that we are on our break and went for a bite…" Morgan said.

"Maybe I should stay with JJ and help her cover." Reid volunteered himself as he stepped away from the elevator.

"No, pretty boy. You're coming with us." Morgan said reaching out to grab him and bring him back.

"Aw man," Reid whined. For a second, just a quick second he thought he had actually gotten out of looking for Ray.

"Nice try, nice try." Emily said laughing at Reid.

"Okay, I'll do what I can. You all owe me big for this." JJ said before walking back to her office.

The group quickly got into the elevator and made their way out of the building.

"We're on a mission without permission! Whoa- this feels good!" Garcia yelled as she hopped in to the back seat with Reid.

Reid rolled his eyes as Penelope laughed manically.

Emily took the wheel and began to drive to Ray's apartment.

Once they had arrived at Ray's apartment they all entered carefully one by one. All of them looked around carefully for any clues that would lead them to finding Ray.

Reid looked around the bedroom. Most of the drawers were open and clothes was hanging out of them. The bed had been moved and the mattress was flipped. Who ever had been in this room was obviously looking for something he was not successful in finding.

* * *

_**You know the drill, Review please!=] **_

_**& Happy 4/20!- I still don't know what that means, so some one feel free to explain... Oh yeah, it's Shemar Moore's B-day today too!=]**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**So, I Know I said I would update right after I got back from my spring break vacation in L.A. but I came back on Wednesday and ended up leaving for San Diego the next morning... Just got back and I made sure to update before doing anything else! So here ya go, Enjoy!**_

* * *

Hotch walked out to the bullpen and was struck by the awkward silence. Usually when he walked out of his office he was attacked by random sounds coming from his agents. Whether it was Morgan arguing with Emily, Penelope flirting, or Spencer spitting out random facts. He decided to go around looking for them.

First he checked the kitchen area. Nothing.

Then Penelope's office. Nothing as well.

Finally he heard some movement coming from JJ office.

"Hey JJ." Hotch said as he opened the door.

"Oh god, you scared me!" JJ gasped as she jumped out of her seat.

"Sorry. Have you seen the rest of the team? I can't seem to find them…"

"Um, they went out to eat. Why do you ask? Do you need them?" JJ said quickly.

"Not quite at this second. Have they been gone for long?"

"Uh, no. Not really." JJ said trying not to give the lie away.

"Okay. Let me know when they get back please." Hotch said as he exited the small office. As profiler, Hotch could tell JJ was hiding something. But he figured if it were really important, JJ wouldn't have hesitated to tell him the truth.

JJ realized she was going to need help concealing the true where-abouts of the teams. Only a profiler could trick another profiler and unfortunately she lacked those skills and was a horrible liar.

JJ knocked on Rossi's door briefly before letting herself in.

"Are you okay Jayge?" Rossi asked in surprise as he saw the small blonde quickly shut the door behind her.

"No. I need your help. You see, I'm not a good liar…"

JJ was quickly cut off, "Calm down. What are you talking about?"

"Well, everyone went to investigate Ray's disappearance without Hotch's approval. I told Hotch that they had gone out for lunch, but I think he's on to me, or us."

"They did what?" Rossi asked as he began to chuckle. "Oh Hotch is going to be pretty pissed when he finds out…"

"You think I don't know that?" JJ half whispered, half yelled.

"Well, sorry. But you're on your own Jayge." Rossi said as he moved his attention back to his laptop.

"Really Dave?" JJ asked in a menacing tone. "Remember that time you dented Hotch's car with your car door and you told me not to tell?"

JJ's eyes narrowed as she starred at Rossi waiting for him to look up at her.

"Fine… I'll help. You might be a terrible liar but you're the queen of blackmail." Rossi said as he watched JJ exit his office with a big grin on her face.

* * *

Back in Ray's apartment Reid, Morgan, Prentiss and Garcia were busy trying to profile both Ray and who ever could be the perpetrator.

Reid ran out of ray's room when he heard Penelope yell for him and Morgan in the living room.

"Reid, Morgan! I think I found something!"

Reid walked in to the living room to find Emily helping Garcia up the floor; Garcia quickly shook dust off her skirt and turned to Reid.

"So I kind of slipped and fell and discovered something." Garcia said trying to conceal the red blush developing in her cheeks.

"What baby girl?" Morgan asked as he looked around.

"There's a soft spot on the carpet. Right… there." Penelope said pointing to the area of carpet that she had fallen on earlier.

Morgan got down on all four and started feeling around the floor. And certainly, there was an odd soft spot on the carpet. He pulled a small knife from his pocket and began cutting through the area carefully.

He pulled up the small piece of white carpet and revealed a box carved into the floor. Reid went ahead and kneeled next to the opening and reached in. He took out a .22 semi-automatic hand gun and laid it on the floor carefully. Then he pulled out a bent folder containing what seemed like old letters and documents. For one last time Reid reached in and pulled out a plastic evidence bag containing a blood stained hand knife.

Emily's jaw dropped as Reid pulled out the items one by one. Ray was definitely starting to look bad with every object that Reid took out of the small hole. She began thinking that Hotch was probably right. And although she was trying hard not to believe what was right in front of her she had to admit that Hotch had a point all along and her profiling skills had failed her this time. Ray was hiding something.

Emily moved closer to the opening and picked up the folder on the ground. She quickly bent forward to catch something that had fallen out of the folder but Morgan caught it before Emily could grab it.

Morgan grabbed the plastic card off the floor and examined it closely. It was a drivers licence under the name of Anthony Dixon, but the man in the picture was definitely Ray. Morgan hesitated at first, but finally handed the card to Emily. She looked over it once then tossed it to the ground and ran out of the apartment and into the hallway.

Garcia followed her out and caught up to her. "Sweetie are you okay?" She said as she carefully stroked her back.

"No..." Emily said as she sniffled and hid her face in the sleeve of her coat. "I should be angry and pissed that Ray lied, I should be wishing death upon him right now... But all I can do is hope that he is okay."

"Well how about we go back inside and get to the bottom of this before you start wishing death on people." Penelope said and leaded Emily towrads the apartment door.

"You're totally right." Emily said as she wiped her face before re-opening the door.

"Of course I am." Penelope teased a little in hopes it would make Emily cheer up.

They went inside to find papers tossed across the floor and Morgan and Reid sitting in the middle of it all.

"You guys find anything yet?" Garcia asked.

"Oh yeah... Ray was no doctor and well, he just was't Ray."

* * *

**_I'm trying to keep the mysteriousness going for a bit more... lol. Don't forget to REVIEW!_**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Thanks for being so patient... I've been cramming for finals. And I'm so glad there's only one more week left in the semester! **_

_**Special thanks to Rosajean, Cellzo, HPforever-after, vampiremuggle, and greengirl82 for reviewing last chapter! I loved reading your reviews, they made me smile=]**_

_**This is quick and short, enjoy!**_

* * *

"Well what did you find?" Prentiss said eager to find out the truth.

"Well there are a few sets of documents. One set is under the name of Anthony Dixon, and the other is under the name of Raymond C. Harris." Reid said as he continued sorting papers on the ground.

"We should take this back to the BAU so baby girl can work her magic on her computers and find if there is anything on Anthony Dixon that can be helpful." Morgan said as he got up and gathered the items on the floor.

"Yay! Finally I get to do something. Besides accidentally discovering evidence, of course." Penelope said as she turned red once again with embarrassment.

"Wait! We can just waltz in with all of this. Hotch will find out we were here without his permission!" Emily yelled.

"Emily, at this point I don't think that matters. If Ray or Anthony is involved in any funny business or is in trouble we need to let Hotch know so he can also help. We can't solve all of this behind his back." Morgan said trying to calm Emily's nerves.

"I guess you have a point." Emily said as she drew her eyes to the floor.

"Emily… You know there is also the option to turn this case over to the police or have another BAU team assigned to the case. I don't think it's wise for you to participate in the investigation, considering you were involved with him." Morgan said trying not to hurt her feelings.

"Morgan. I'm perfectly capable of distancing myself in order to my job. I'll look at this as objectively as I can, but please, let me stay on the case." Emily quickly pleaded. She wanted to know exactly what happened as it was discovered.

"Well I don't mind. But that is not up to me. I say we start heading back now, come on." Morgan said as he helped Reid put the rest of the stuff into a cardboard box.

* * *

JJ sighed in relief when she saw Morgan, Reid, Emily, and Penelope coming in through the BAU's glass doors. Finally she and Rossi could stop covering for them.

"Well you guys took an awfully long break." Hotch said as he shut his office door and headed down the stairs, "It's been almost 2 hours since the first time I asked JJ about you."

JJ's relief had a short running as she heard Hotch's voice behind her. She and Rossi slowly turned to face him as he approached Emily's desk where the team had gathered.

Emily immediately stepped forward to confront Hotch. If anyone was to get in trouble for this it should be her. After all, she was the one that had insisted on going to look for Ray.

Emily held her breath as Hotch came closer.

"What's going on?" Hotch asked in a deep firm voice.

"Well" Emily started taking in another deep breath, "We kind of went over to Ray's apartment to investigate a little." Emily watched as disappointment took over Hotch's face. She flinched a little thinking Hotch would now most likely strike her in the face or something.

"What did you find?" Hotch asked. To everyone's surprise he sounded oddly calm.

"Um, this." Emily said as she walked over to the cardboard box Morgan had placed on her desk.

"We found a gun and a knife that was in an evidence bag. We also found some documents and I.D. cards under the names of Raymond C. Harris and Anthony Dixon." Reid explained as Hotch listened and looked inside the box.

"Okay, who has touched the gun?" Hotch asked.

"Only me." Reid raised his hand.

"Get an evidence box and have it shipped to the lab so we can get fingerprints lifted off of it and maybe a serial number that could tell us who the gun is registered to."

Reid nodded.

"Garcia, run the name Anthony Dixon through your system and see what comes up. Let me know when you have something."

"Yes sir." Garcia said as she rushed away to her tech room.

"Morgan and Rossi, take this up to the Records Office and see if they can match the case number on the bag to an on-going case." Hotch said as he handed the evidence bag to Morgan.

Emily looked around her as one by one her team mates left. Now only she, Hotch and JJ stood in the middle of the bullpen.

"I want you to know that I highly disapprove of all this, Emily. You guys went behind my back and had JJ and Rossi lie for you."

"I'm sorry, Hotch. I just need to know." Emily said softly and let her head hang low.

"I understand. That's why I'll let this one slide. But promise me you'll never pull one like this on me again."

"I won't, I promise." Emily assured Hotch, looking up to meet his eyes.

"Good. Now since this is not an official case we have to be discreet about this. If Strauss finds out, well, let's make sure she doesn't find out." Hotch said as he pulled his collar nervously.

"Deal." Emily said cheerfully.

"And another thing. I don't consider this Ray thing a priority and don't take it wrong but if a case comes along, we're dropping the Ray thing, no buts." Hotch said. Hotch felt a sort of satisfaction as he saw Emily's face light up.

"Okay. That's perfectly fine." Emily smiled and hopped forward to give Hotch a hug.

Hotch's face went red when JJ shot him a quick wink and left laughing. He hesitated to hug Emily back but he finally did.

* * *

_**Ready to see who Ray really is? I think its time:]**_

_***Anyone else watched the season 6 finale? IT WAS AWESOME, RIGHT?=D**_

_**Want to reach 50 reviews! lol- SO PLEASE REVIEW!=D**_


	8. Chapter 8

**_Heeey! I know it has been quite a while, so let me begin by apologizing [read note at the end!]_**

**_I want to thank crazygal27, Rosajean, greengirl82, PrincessHotch, sarweber22, HPforever-after, Hisprincess12, vampiremuggle, & Hailey9989 for reviewing the last chapter and helping me get to my 50 reviews goal. And a special shout out to criminal4minds for being the 50th reviewer! Thank you all SO much, you have no idea how much that means to me right now:']_**

**_Well, this is a pretty short chapter, aside from the super long author's notes. So enjoy!_**

* * *

Hotch gently pushed Emily's shoulders back and took a step away from her when he saw Penelope running towards them.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I interrupt anything?" Garcia asked with a big curious smile on her face.

"Not at all. So did you find anything useful?" Hotch asked as he slowly stepped further away from Prentiss.

"Yes. But this might be more creepy than useful. Maybe I should talk to you in private." Garcia said being careful not to offend Prentiss.

"Its okay, Pen. Whatever it is, I want to know." Prentiss said as she prepared herself for what Garcia was about to say.

"Well. I searched his name and found a file that was basically being protected by the FBI. It took a while to open it and it basically says Anthony Dixon is dead." Penelope said.

"What? Are you sure Penelope?" Hotch asked as he then looked over to Prentiss who looked shell shocked.

"Well that's what the file said… There's a death certificate that says he died last October." Penelope explained as she handed over a file to Hotch.

"No. He's not dead. This looks like the classic FBI cover up. We need to find out what he's working on…" Hotch stated as he pulled out his cell phone.

"So, you really think Ray is an FBI agent?" Prentiss asked as she snapped out of her trance.

Hotch nodded as he dialed a number into his phone and held it up to his ear.

* * *

A couple minutes later Hotch got off the phone and joined Prentiss and Garcia once again as they talked amongst themselves.

"I called the FBI director to ask him if he knew anything about Anthony. Apparently he is a retired police officer from New York. He was re-hired by the FBI to help investigate the death of a fellow police officer and had to go undercover to do so… The stuff you guys found in his apartment is evidence related to the case" Hotch said as Morgan and Rossi came back into the bull pen.

"You got something?" Rossi asked.

"Yes. Dixon is a retired cop; he's helping the FBI investigate a high profile case involving the murder of a fellow police officer." Hotch repeated as Reid and JJ approached the rest of the group just in time to hear what was going on.

"So what now?" Morgan asked.

"I don't know" Hotch said as he turned to Emily, "It's up to you. Now you know Ray's real identity, you want to leave it at that?"

"No. I want to confront him." Emily announced to the team.

"Are you sure Emily? I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, for all we know, being your boyfriend was part of his cover… You really want to blow it?" JJ asked, trying to convince her to stand down and leave the situation alone.

"I don't care. I want to confront him." Emily said. More determined than ever.

"Okay then." Hotch said as he began walking towards his office.

"Okay then? Are we really wasting our time trying to track down this guy?" Rossi said in disbelief as he followed Hotch to his office. He hadn't really spoken about his opposition to the rogue investigation before, but the truth was he was totally not for it.

"Emily wants to confront him and knowing her like I do, she'll go looking for him with or without us. I'd prefer helping her so I can keep her safe and once she gets this over with I'm sure she'll never want to see or speak to Anthony again." Hotch said once they were out of hearing range.

"You know you're risking all of our jobs by doing this. Who knows what Anthony is doing during his undercover investigation? We could really jeopardize his cover by tracking him down. I know you really like Emily and you're only doing this for her, but I don't think it's fair to drag the whole team down with you." Rossi said angrily.

"You don't have to this if you don't want to. Heck, I'll do it on my own without the rest of team. But I'm helping Emily no matter what."

"I don't get it, Hotch. You were the one that was against this at first and now your all for it." Rossi said, confused.

"Look, I don't get it either. I just know that if Emily feels so strongly about finding Dixon, then I want to be there for her one-hundred percent." Hotch said as he took a seat in his desk.

"Okay." Rossi said with no further commentary about his opposition.

"So are you in or out?" Hotch asked jokingly.

"In, I guess." He said as he let out an uncomfortable giggle.

"Thanks, Dave. Now excuse me as I make some phone calls and track down Dixon."

* * *

_**Ta-Da! Were you expecting that?**_

_**Okay, so the reason I haven't posted in so long is a little sad... My mom was diagnosed with some type of kidney disease, I'm not too sure what it is exactly. But she's been in and out of the hospital for the past month and a half so I've been trying to help out around the house more by talking care of my younger siblings and her as well when I'm not working or at school. So that pretty much leaves no time for fun or writing. But the good news is she just got home after being in the hospital for a whole week and she's doing MUCH better. So hopefully now I'll be able to get back to my 'normal' life (whatever that was) and continue updating bi-weekly or maybe even sooner=]**_

_**Next chapter Emily will confront Anthony Dixon(Ray)!**_

_**I hope you guys liked this chapter and hopefully it made up for the long wait, don't forget to review!=]**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Hey! I wanna thank all the people that reviewed last chapter! Hope you guys enjoy this, and don't forget to tell me what you think!**_

* * *

Emily sat quietly at her desk as everyone else was doing. The team hadn't received any new cases in a couple of days, which was very odd. Either way they were all too focused on the Ray and Emily drama to care or notice.

Emily was startled by a heavy hand that grabbed her shoulder.

"Umm, there's some one here to see you." Morgan said pointing to somewhere behind him.

Emily watched as Reid ran up to Hotch's office before actually turning around to pay any attention to what Morgan was talking about. Finally, Emily rolled her chair to the side and was able to get a glimpse of who seemed to be Ray.

"Oh my god…" Emily whispered to herself in amazement.

"Emily, stay calm. Whatever you do don't hurt him. Actually give your gun just be safe." Morgan managed to rapidly say before being pushed aside by Emily.

"You're okay!" Emily said with tears in her eyes before wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Oh. That was so not the reaction I was expecting." Morgan said to Rossi, Hotch, and Reid as they walked passed him towards Emily and Ray.

"I thought you were dead. I was so worried." Emily kept saying as she buried her face in his chest so the others wouldn't see her crying.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Garcia said as she stepped in and joined the group.

"I'm fine, Emily." Dixon finally said.

Everyone besides Emily and Dixon looked back at Hotch and watched his face sadden. They all knew that Hotch liked Emily and they knew he was probably devastated that helping Emily 'confront' Dixon only drove her further into his arms.

Surprisingly, Hotch was the first to walk up to Emily and Dixon.

"I'm glad to see your okay, Ray. I mean Anthon- uh, Agent. " Hotch said struggling to make up his mind on what to call the man that was holding the love of his life in his arms.

"Thank you. 'Ray' was just the name of my cover. My real name is Anthony Dixon." Dixon said.

"We know." Hotch said as he watched Emily back away from Anthony as if she had suddenly remembered all the drama and mystery that had been going on for the last couple of days.

"If you guys don't mind, I'd like to talk to Emily alone."

"That's fine." Hotch said.

Anthony then led Emily out of the bullpen through the glass BAU doors.

"Hey, Em. I know this might be awkward for you." Dixon began speaking softly to Emily who was standing a whole 10ft away from him with her arms crossed in front of her chest and her eyes stuck to the floor.

"You must have hated to find out who I really was from others rather than from me… I'm sorry that I didn't tell you the truth, but, I couldn't risk blowing my cover." Dixon said stepping in closer to Emily hoping she would finally meet his eyes.

"This case you are working on, and your cover, was I part of that?" Emily said finally looking straight at him.

"Yes, I mean no. It was supposed to be, but honestly I liked you from the moment I met you. But I just couldn't tell you the truth about me right there and then. You do understand that, right?" Dixon asked, hoping Emily would say yes.

"I understand." Emily said, "But I still can't help but feel a little hurt."

"I'm sorry. I just solved the case I was working on that is why I came here. I found out your boss was asking around about me. And well now that the case is closed, I was hoping you could get to know the 'real' me… Let's start over Emily. What do you think?"

"I don't know, Ray." Emily said as she realized she had called Dixon by his cover name. "I mean, Anthony… I'm sorry. I don't think I can do this. Not know, to soon." Emily said as she ran back into the bull pen.

Dixon stood wondering if he should run after Emily. He decided he couldn't leave without giving a full explanation. He stepped inside the bull pen to find Emily sobbing into Penelope's shoulder.

Penelope shook her head at Dixon and motioned for him to leave. Anthony simply nodded and turned around. As bad as he wanted to clarify the situation to Emily with the hopes she would take him back, he knew it probably wasn't wise to throw so much information at her at once. She obviously needed time to clear her head and give it some time to sink in.

He left and decided to call her later.

* * *

Meanwhile in the bull pen Garcia tried incessantly to stop Emily's tears. It tore her up inside to see her best friend like this. Emily was one of the strongest women she knew, and knowing that all it took was a man to break her down made her angry inside.

Hotch stared from his office window. He wanted to come out and hold Emily and comfort her. But he was still a little upset about Emily running into Dixon's arm like she did. Even if she quickly remembered what happened in the past days.

Regardless, he knew he had to do something to reassure Emily that everything was going to be okay.

* * *

_*****I also want to thank all of you who asked about my mom, she's doing really good now! **_


	10. Chapter 10

_**HEY! It's been a while. Sorry fro the extremely long delay... but here it is; the last chapter!=]**_

_**ENJOY-**_

* * *

"It's okay honey let it out." Said Garcia, as she held a sobbing Emily in her arms.

Once again Garcia reached in her pocket and pulled out another tissue for Prentiss. Both had stepped into the ladies room because Emily didn't want anyone else to see her cry.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" JJ said as she stepped into the restroom.

"Better I guess." Emily said as she lifted her head off Garcia's shoulders.

"Excuse me ladies," said Hotch as he walked into the bathroom. "Would you mind?"

"You do know this is a girls restroom right?" asked Garcia as she began to walk out of the restroom along with JJ leaving Prentiss and Hotch alone to talk.

"Are you okay?" Hotch asked shyly as he walked closer to the sobbing mess of a woman in front of him.

"Yes I'm fine, can you please get Pen and JJ back in here?" Emily said covering her face.

"You don't have to hide from me. I know how you feel about the whole Dixon situation…"

"Really? Then explain it to me…"

"Well I'm sure you feel confused. You might not know exactly what to make of what's going on, and that's what I'm here for; to help you through it all." Hotch said

"You know Hotch; you're a really sweet guy. And I guess I owe you an apology." Emily said, embarrassed at the way she had spoken to Hotch.

"For what?" Hotch asked

"For lashing out at you. Let's face it, I've been using the team as my personal punching back lately, I even accused you of being jealous…"

"No you didn't… Well I don't remember that." Hotch said.

"Well I didn't say it to your face of course. But if I didn't know any better I might have thought that you liked me or something." Emily said laughing.

When hearing this Hotch turned red. Although he acknowledged the fact that he was her boss, he suddenly felt the need to tell her how he really felt.

"Well what if I really was jealous and I really did like you?" Hotch said nervously as Emily wiped the remaining tears off her face as she was now in a very good mood.

"That's funny. I appreciate you trying to cheer me up Hotch, it means a lot to me."

"Emily, I'm being serious right now. I've liked you for a while, but I never really admitted it. No matter how much Garcia has tried to get it out of me." Hotch said smiling.

"Oh wow. Um, well this is unexpected. But since were being honest right now and in the middle of confession hour, I have to admit I kind of had a crush on you too. I didn't act on it, well, you know why. You're my boss." Emily admitted.

This came as very good news to Hotch.

"So I guess what Morgan said is true then…" Hotch said whispered loud enough for Emily to hear.

"Why? What did he say?" Emily asked.

"He said, and I quote; 'I think she totally digs you.'" Hotch said as he and Prentiss began to laugh.

This whole joking going on between them was out of character for both of them. But they were enjoying the moment too much to stop.

"Yeah. That sounds like Morgan alright." Emily said as she continued to laugh.

"What do you say we go out to dinner?" Hotch said briefly interrupting their laughter.

"You mean like on a date?" Emily asked.

"Sure why not? What do you say?" Hotch added.

"I don't know Hotch. I mean the Dixon situation is still fresh, I don't think I should." Emily sighed.

"Come on Emily. One time for the good times."

Emily broke out in laughter once again, "That was so cheesy!"

"You think?" Hotch asked shyly.

Emily nodded, "Completely pathetic. Either way, I guess dinner with you wouldn't be so bad."

"Great, so how about we leave now?" Hotch said as he opened the door and led Emily out.

"Sounds good. Just make sure if you have any other identities, tell me now."

"I don't, I promise" Hotch said as he leaned in and kiss her cheek.

The two walked out of the bathroom just to find the rest of the team standing by the door with their ears glued to the wall.

"Were you spying on us?" Hotch and Emily both spoke out at the same time.

"Maybe" Garcia spoke innocently.

Emily rolled her eyes and shook her head as she and Hotch walked away to resume their date plans as scheduled. Just as they walked away they could hear the team clapping and cheering for them.

At last, Hotch had confessed his feelings to Emily. It wasn't near the disaster he thought it would be... And Finally, Emily was with a man she knew would never lie to her or deceive her in anyway. And what became known as the 'Ray incident' was in the past and never to be remembered again.

_**THE END.**_

* * *

_**Sorry if it seems like a short and abrupt ending, I just had to find a way to finish this story fast or it was never going to happen. However, I'm currently working on a story that I will post sometime next week so make sure you keep an eye out for it!**_

_**Oh! And thank you to all of you that reviewed this story. I love hearing what everyone has to say, you guys gave amazing feedback and great support! THANK YOU=]**_


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